CardsplainDesolation of Smaug
Desolation of Smaug deals 3 damage to each non-Dragon creature.
Add four mana in any combination of colors. Spend this mana only to cast Dragon spells.
Grade D+ Grade from the win rate
Win rate when drawn 52.7% −3.5 vs average 2,895 games
Win rates and picks
- 53.9% 6,944 games
- Average pick ()
- 5
By deck
- Goblin Army 52.8% 1,569 games
Win rates from , 323,114 games. This card is compared with the set average (56.2%).
Reviews
Four mana is kind of expensive for a 3-damage sweeper. Zero mana is obviously obscene, but for it to do that you need to both have a dragon in your deck and to have drawn it, which seems incredibly unlikely to me. If you get to pull that off, then great, but I think Desolation of Smaug feels more like a powerful sideboard card that might be good enough to play in the main if your deck isn't too vulnerable to it.
There aren't many in this format, just Desolation of Smaug and Settle the Wreckage.
Desolation of Smaug is trickier to spot, but usual heuristics of “my opponent isn't doing anything” can be an okay tip off. I tend to only play the card in very creature-light decks and/or those with X/4+ setups.
How to draft it
Roles in each deck
Goblin Army Removal
It deals 3 damage to each non-Dragon creature, yours included, and Goblin Army is full of creatures with 3 toughness or less, so it kills your side as surely as theirs. The four mana it adds can be spent only on Dragon spells.
How to play it
Learn the Goblin Army deckBring it in from the sideboard only when you are behind against many small creatures and have few of your own. The Dragon-only mana casts Smaug the Magnificent at once, and a Dragon already on the battlefield isn't hit. With one more land it casts Smaug, Wicked Worm, and with three more Smaug, the Great Calamity from , since Spew Flame isn't a Dragon spell.